A precocious member from an ancient race wishes to learn more about the world. Elder brother sees to it that no one messes. Stratagem is incredibly mobile and can be a pain to catch. With its high flying abilities and multiple projectiles, Stratagem can play both offensively and defensively very effectively.

Health: 85

Strengths:

Two very useful projectiles. Ground and air

Top of the line aerial mobility with Levitate

Fast and mobile on the ground too

Many attacks have disjointed hitboxes

Can attack high or low from the air

Small hitbox

Weaknesses:

Lowest health total in the game. Brittle

No reversal at all

Few defensive options outside of keeping away

Not many high damage combos

Special Normals

Toe Pinch (df+w)

Stratagem slides forward staying very close to the ground. Must be blocked low.

Retreating Slash(b+s)

A quick slashing attack that moves Stratagem backwards.

Leaping Slash (df+m)

Stratagem leaps into the air delivering a swift kick. Can be used in the air

Leaping Backslash (df+s)

Stratagem performs an arcing leap and kicks behind him on the way down. Must be blocked high. Can be used in the air.

Special Attacks

Ancientpower (d,f+a)

damage: 12

A collection of ancient rocks is projected at the enemy. Speed travelled is dependant on the strength of the button used. Somewhat slow start up but fast recovery. Stratagem can actually Levitate forward faster than the slowest version. Can be cancelled from Retreating Slash.

X-Ancientpower: 16

Stratagame generates a very slow moving collection of rocks that quickly vanish. The rocks are still there advancing, yet remain invisible for long time or until they hit.

Power Gem (d,f+a in the air)

damage: 11

The energy contained in Stratagem's gems is launched downward. The angle is dependant on the strength of the button used. A good defensive option that can keep Stratagem out of reach as he flits around.

X-Power Gem: 17 (each)

Three elemental balls of energy are fired covering the sky and scattering across the field.

Paleo Wave (d,b+a in the air)

Stratagem dives straight down unleashing a wave of energy where he connects. Invincible on the way down. Must be blocked low. The recovery can be cancelled with Giga Drain, or, if your meter is not full, with a back dash. Furthermore, the the aerial part of the recovery animation can be go into a Levitate. The move is very unsafe on block or whiff so there is no reason not to cancel except that you may run to the risk of flying right into a counter attack.

weak: 3+7 medium: 4+7 strong: 5+7

X-Paleo Wave: 12

Works like regular Paleo Wave except Stratagem comes down at a quick 45 degree angle. Good for surprise attacks, but cannot be used for a low crossup.

SuperAttack

Giga Drain (d,b,f+a)

damage: 30 restores: 15

A flying forward attack that, if it connects, steals the opponent's health to restore Stratagem's. Can punish at mid-range, but best used cancelled from a Paleo Wave.

Ability

Levitate

Levitate allows Stratagem to glide through the air with ease. You can glide forward, backward, or hover in place for a short time. Stratagem can use any aerial move while Levitating.

Stratagem
2 words: Glass Cannon. Comboing isn't his strong point (though he can link most ground normals into other ground normals), but the few he has can do decent damage. More than anything, he specializes in aireal combat and defensive pressure. His ability to do nearly-safe overheads is second to none due to Levitating after an Paleo Wave, and he can also pull some mean projectile traps using varied Ancientpowers and Power Gems. (Sidenote: Dispite his absolutely abysmal health (tied for worst ingame with Krilowatt), he's actually pretty good at defence if you manage to keep them out. 2 projectiles, and an aireal low that combos into a healthdrain for an overall health lead of 15. ...It's better than it sounds. Read on!)

Noteworthy normals: 2C, j.A

3AToe Pinch: The least useful of his moves, to me. It has it's purposes, though; Stratagem's meaty attack, and a way of scooting under attacks to get closer to Strata's midrange sweetspot for the Power Trap, Also the only move that can't really link into anything, except maybe a 2A if you catch them in the last few frames of the Pinch. Also a tickthrow trap.

3BLeaping Slash: More useful than it looks! I occasionally refer to this as the Poor Man's Doubleteam. Quick crossup shenanigans are possible with the arc this gives, but it's more snuffable than the real Doubleteam due to going over them, not through them. Of course, this also has another use as Strata's only ground-to-air attack. Don't count on it for anti-air, but you can link it after a Giga Drain and do a followup for extra damage.

3CLeaping Backslash: An actual grounded crossup attack. Somewhat slow, but also an overhead and has enough hitstun to allow some decently painful followups. Truth be told though, it's only a smidge faster than a forward jumping attack of choice... This is mainly for use when at point blank.

4CRetreating Slash: In almost all cases, you want to use this instead of a 5C. Same damage, gets you some breathing space (if not snuffed), and can be canceled into an A-Power (As in, A-strength Ancientpower).

236Ancientpower: This is your offensive projectile. Great for offensive pressure, and actually half decent in combo ability too. Specifically as mentioned before, it combos off of 4C. But if yer close enough *to* combo it from 4C, then it can link *into* other grounded attacks like a 5C to 2C link.

j.236Power Gem: The more defensive projectile option. A solid air-to-ground option for playing defensive, and changing it's angle with the button strength can do some small mindgames, to peg them if they try jumping an A-Gem or dashing under a C-Gem. Correct spacing and good guessing allow you to mix up all 6 projectile variants for a rather savage defensive wall and/or Ryu-esque projectile trap. (Sidenote: Strata is one of the two heroes in the game who can make effective use of Tiger Kneeing an attack [2369, or 2147. Doing a quartercircle, jumping, and *then* hitting attack]. Power Gem can be a mighty fast and actually rather safe short-midrange attack if tigerkneed, though it's mostly for psychouts. (Sidenote: Though Power Gem is a projectile, it cannot be nullified by other projectiles. The foe just has to tough it out!)

j.214Paleo Wave: A deceptive trick in Strata's arsenal. This is an aireal attack which halts all forward momentum and sends you sailing straight into the floor, for a low attack with much hitstun. Afterwards, you can either cancel into a Giga Drain if you hit, "empty cancel" into a backdash if you don't have the meter for a Giga, or levitate in the recovery frames. Not doing anything is NOT an option, as this move is horribly unsafe unless you cancel it. (Sidenote: Like Power Gem, this can be Tiger Kneed to provide quick access to a painful low, or even just meter-building at a distance if you aren't tossing projectiles out.)

2146*Giga Drain: A solid attack, this does a relatively small (compared to other supers) amount of damage to the enemy (unaffected by scaling), and gives it to you. Ain't much alone, but you can juggle off of this easy with a 3B into a chain of choice. I prefer taking no chances by going 3B j.A afterwards, but if yer confident in your timing you can land a standing normal as well... 5A lets you keep juggling and allows for reset potential, and 4C can do a safer "reset" by having them land with an Ancientpower coming their way.

ELevitate: This is what gives Strata his mobility. Use it to follow an Ancient Power, use it to set up Paleo crossups, use it for getting out of a dangerous situation, use it for psych-outs, just use it. Preferably not so much that you never use Paleo, though.